Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-06-03


tain Haselrig to forego his purpose of
seeing her father until she herself should
give him leave to speak; and at last, to
her great relief, she sent him off, if not
satisfied, yet certainly more in love than
ever.
During her conversation with Captain
Haselrig, Dora's sharp ears had caught
the sound of the door bell, so she was
fully prepared to hear that Mr.. Lorimer
was in the library, and went to him at
once. But what she did not know, and
in her hurry would not give the butler
time to tell her, was that Lord Liscarrol
had also arrived, and was at the moment
in the morning room. Now Lord Lis
carrol was not particularly impatient
man, but he had ample time to get ex-
tremely tired of waiting, and having ex-
hausted the paper, was beguiling his
leisure by staring out of the window,
when he caught sight of Haselrig leaving
the house.
by Jove there's Haselrig !" he
calculated. "Why, l thought he was in
India must hunt the dear old fellow
up. How we'll he's looking, too
Hullo ! what's up now, wonder Voices
loud, not to say angry, could be heard in
the next room. Hump Lorimer get
ting his congo, l suppose. Seems to be
catching it hot, too, poor beggar. After
ALL serves him right. Why should he
try to force the girl to marry him, when
any one else could see with half an eye
she doesn't care rap for him 2 o ! But
l say he muttered, ~ can't stop here;
shall be hearing what they say next min
ute"
Leaving message that an appoint
mCnt UNFORTUNATELY prevented his waiting
any longer just then, but he hoped for
the pleasure OF seeing Miss Carmichael
later in the day. Lord Liscarrol left the
house.
Ten minutes later, stopping to look at
a jewelers. window, a gentleman on leav-
ing the shop brushed past him. 1t was
Haselrig.
"Hul1o! Haselrig, old fellow, how
came you to be in town 2"
"Why, Liscarrol, is that you ~
The two young men shook hands vigor-
ously.
(Which way are you goingl To the
club That's right, SO am I; come
along" and the unconscious rivals walked
slowly side by side down Pail Mall.
Haselrig told of his accession of fortune;
then added, with a conscious laugh:
"Fact is, Pm tired of single blessed
ness and am going to try matrimony for
a change"
Congratulate you most heartily, my
dear fellow" Lord Liscarrol's own hap
piness rendered him very sympathetic.
''Do know the lady2"
IL dare say you do; for she goes out a
lot, and though her people are not ex-
actly all one could wish, Dora herself is
a darlingr'
30, called Dora, is she2" quoth his
friend, amused at the coincidence.
'Pretty name, Dora, my favorite, l think.
Have you known her long, or is it a
recent AFFAIR."
"pve known her two or three years,
but money stood in the way at the time,
so went to India to wait for better
days. But when my uncle left me
Cleveleigh, came back sharp. Her peo-
pie don't know yet, for her father wants
her to marry a man called Lorimer."
"Called what2" exclaimed Lord Lis
carroll
"Lorimer. Do you know him2"
"Know himw echoed the other! "To
be sure do; west countryman."
"Yes, that's the fellow. An awful
cub, l believe; but lots of money, and no
end of place in the west; so old Car
michael"
"Here 1 say, hold on bit, I'm getting
mixed What's the young lady's namei
Surely not Dora Carmichael2"
"To be sure it is. Do you know her,
them"
81 should think sol But look here, are
you sure there's no mistaken
II say Liscarrol, it's rather early in the
day to be like this!' remarked Haselrig,
astonished at his companions excite
ment. "Hang it man, a jokes joke,
but to be like this at this time of day is
rather"
No I'm not drunk, Haselrig, nor mad
either, though you are enough to drive
me SOL What do you mean about Miss
Carmichael?'
"Why, she's the girl I'm engaged to,
to be sure See, here's her likeness"
and so saying he rapidly unfastened a
locket from his watch, and held it out,
open, to his companion.
There was no mistake, it decidedly was
Dora Carmichaol's likeness. BY this
time, luckily for both, they had reached
their club, and they turned into the
waiting-room, which at that time of the
day was vacant.
Eyes, it is Dora, certainly" said Lord
LiscarroI, slowly. "Confound herl"
lord Liscarrolw
ooh, don't go into heroics, man |
Look here;" and in a moment he pro-
duced dainty embroidered letter-case
from his breast pocket, and taking out
photograph and several letters, flung
them down before the astonished soldier
"Look at that! Read those"
Haselrig picked them up gingerly
One look was enough. The photograph
he know only too well, he had the
duplicate of it; and if the letters at this
moment lying on his breast were not
exactly the same, the signature: "Your
own loving DORA" was indentical in
both.
"But what does it mean" he asked,
stupeted.
Mean" laughed Liscarrol, bitterly
Giles, 10 be sure. How long have you
been engaged, Haselrig2"
''Since before went to India"
and | since Easter and the two
men stood looking blankly at each other.
That afternoon, having received the
message Lord Liscarrol left with the
butler, Miss Carmichael waited i'm
patiently for the young man. About
five o'clock small parcel, brought by a